Chocolate in Mayan and Aztec Society

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews various peer-reviewed academic and professional literature relating to chocolate in Mayan and Aztec society. It looks at how chocolate or 'cacao' was used by both the Mayan and Aztec cultures for various purposes including as a base of drink mixtures for consumption generally by the elite in society and as well was consumed on special occasions such as engagement and wedding ceremonies. It also examines how at one time chocolate was a form of currency in trade and bartering among peoples and nations.

Outline:
Introduction
The Origin of Chocolate
The Uses of Chocolate
Chocolate and Societal Status
The Science of Chocolate
Chocolate: Trade
Summary and Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Chocolate was additionally a food consumed during ceremonies celebrating engagements and marriages. Visiting dignitaries were given gifts of chocolate as well. Chocolate is stated by Norton to have been "associated with a lifesource, originating from or strengthened by its blood red coloring achieved by adding achiote." (2004; 3) Norton states that chocolate not only played a central role in Mayan and Aztec cultures as the basis for a drink of status but also was additionally "embedded in a range of social, diplomatic, and religious rituals." (2004; 3) Norton relates that the Europeans first encountered chocolate during the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1502."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Coe SD, Coe MD. The True History of Chocolate. Thames and Hudson, 1996.
• Cradle of Chocolate? (1998) Cornell News. 8 Oct 1998. Online available at: http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/oct98/chocolate.cacao.hrs.html
• de Sahagun B. General de las Cosas de Nueva Espana (Florentine Codex). Sixteenth century.
• Gagne, Steve (2004) Cacao: The Essence of Chocolate. Online available at: http://www.stevegagne.com/more.php?id=35_0_1_0_M
• Hurst WJ, Tarka SM, Powis TG, et al. "Archaeology: Cacao usage by the earliest Maya civilization." Nature. 2002.

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